The Fall of The Shadow Fox
by KatherineAliceBeckettCullen
Summary: Part 3 of The Shadow Fox Trilogy. Picks up where "The Shadow Fox Returns" left off (to avoid confusion, read "The Shadow Fox" and "The Shadow Fox Returns" first). Beckett and her team are still chasing the elusive Shadow Fox. Will they capture this assassin before one of their own is taken from them? Rated M for violence and some Caskett. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Welcome to the final part in The Shadow Fox Trilogy! This story starts about a month after the last story ended (to avoid confusion, please read the previous two parts). I really hope you guys enjoy the conclusion to The Shadow Fox Trilogy. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters, just borrowing them for a bit. This disclaimer will apply to all future chapters.**

* * *

Chapter 1

Alex clasped her hands behind her back and raised her arms as high as they would go. At the top of the stretch, a sharp pain in the center of her back reminded her that the bruise from Kate's latest bullet had not yet healed completely. She endured the stretch for a moment more and then released it and shook out her arms. She rotated her head around to stretch out her neck and shook out her arms again.

Sloan had caught the grimace. "Back still hurts?"

"Yeah, but only when I move wrong."

"Maybe you should wait until you've healed to go after The Hammer."

Alex laughed. "If I always waited until my latest injury healed, I'd never do anything."

Sloan chuckled too. "I see your point. Do you remember where he's hiding? It hasn't changed."

"His base is in the abandoned 91st St. station. My point of entry is through the 96th St. station. I remember, don't worry."

"I'm not worried."

"Okay then. I'm off. Wish me luck."

"Good luck and be careful."

Alex smirked. "When am I not?"

* * *

Alex stood at one end of the 96th St. platform reading the paper. At least, she only looked like she was reading the paper. In reality, she was watching the platform, waiting for the station to clear out enough to jump down to the tracks and make her way to Hammer's hideout. A train was due to arrive any minute, which should do the trick. Right on schedule, the 1 train pulled into the station. Those on the platform shuffled onto the train while a few passengers got off. Two minutes later the train left, leaving the platform empty.

Alex quickly folded up the paper and dropped it in the trashcan behind her before checking that the platform was still clear. She could hear someone coming down the stairs, so she quickly jumped off the platform and ran into the tunnel, heading south. Before long the tunnel grew dark; Alex clicked on a flashlight so she could see where her feet were going. Up ahead, Hammer's ghost station came into view. The platform was derelict, covered in graffiti and dirt from years of disuse.

The best part was the platform was vacant. Hammer didn't expect anyone to wander onto the platform, and he didn't want anyone from a passing train to see one of his men on the platform. Alex jumped up onto the platform and found a spot to hide before the next train rolled by. Once it had passed, Alex headed down the corridor toward the lounge. If Hammer was actively using this station as his base, he would most likely set up shop in there.

Alex hugged the walls, moving quietly as she crept toward the lounge. It was starting to look like Hammer was working with a skeleton crew or had moved. There was no noise down here. She was remembering the last time she'd been in his base of operations; the men in his crew had always been watching some sports game and yelling at the refs when a call went against the team they were rooting for. The silence was unnerving.

Up ahead, a door opened and a wall of noise hit her. "I'll be right back. I gotta hit the head."

She stayed in a crouch as someone still in the room called after the leaving goon. "Hurry up, I need to win my money back."

_They've soundproofed a room, that's why I couldn't hear anything_. At least she knew Hammer wouldn't be in that room; he hated playing poker. If she remembered correctly, it had something to do with a failed attempt to become a professional poker player. By the looks of things, the lounge had been converted into the hangout room, so Hammer must be in the equipment storage room; it might be the smaller room, but it was private. She stopped in front of the target door and pressed her ear to it.

From the other side came the sounds of an action movie. Probably a Michael Bay film or something like that. Alex carefully opened the door as quietly as possible and slipped inside. Hammer didn't notice her presence as she crept toward him until her shadow fell across the table in front of him. He jumped up, pulling a gun from his waistband, but Alex had anticipated his reaction and managed to stay behind him.

The stab to his kidney was clean, but he didn't go quietly. Hammer managed to fire his gun twice before the shock set in. Alex hurried to stab him twice more, praying that the men in the soundproofed room hadn't heard the shots. For half a moment, she thought that maybe they hadn't. She stabbed Hammer again with a little more precision, severing the inferior vena cava. _He'll go quickly now_. Alex was about to pull her blade from his back to stab him once more when the door opened with a bang.

In the doorway stood the goon who'd gone to the bathroom earlier. Alex had assumed he'd returned to the game by now; clearly that wasn't the case. For a moment he stood, frozen in place, trying to understand what was going on. Then he saw the blood seeping from Hammer's body and he lunged toward her with a yell, outrage written all over his face. Alex rolled sideways to avoid him and the goon tripped over his boss' body as he slipped in the blood when he tried to change direction and follow her. In the meantime, Alex rushed to her feet and bolted from the room, leaving her knife behind.

Alex ran down the hallway toward the platform. She had no idea what time it was or which train might be passing. The goon coming in had screwed up her kill, making it harder to escape. If she was lucky, he would stay with his boss and try to save his life or he would run for help, giving her time to figure out the trains and escape.

Luck wasn't on her side. Alex heard the goon's footsteps as she reached the platform and he hit her from behind a moment later. Both were knocked off their feet by the collision, rolling out onto the platform in a cloud of dust. Alex tried to get to her feet, but the goon latched onto one of her ankles and pulled her back down. She kicked out blindly and he let go with a curse as her foot connected with something.

Alex jumped up and headed for the edge of the platform again, intending to run across the tracks to the northbound platform. Unfortunately, the goon had also jumped up, grabbing her around the shoulders. Alex dropped her right shoulder down and back slightly, then drove her left elbow into his side as she threw her torso forward. The goon let go as he flipped over her body, landing on the tracks right as the 1 train came through.

The sound of the goon being crushed by the train had Alex gagging as she dropped to the platform to avoid following him onto the tracks. The train screeched to a halt and people inside rushed to the windows to find out what was going on. Alex didn't want to wait around, so she stood back up and dropped onto the tracks behind the train to head back the way she'd come. _That didn't go the way I'd planned_.

* * *

**One hour later...**

Beckett got out of the car with a sense of déjà vu. A month ago, she had chased Alex from this very area while she'd been trying to lose herself in the crowd. Now she was here again on her first case back since her father's murder. She paused for a moment and took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

Castle noticed her discomfort. "You okay?"

She shrugged. "Last time I was here, I was chasing Alex."

He nodded in understanding. "I see. I'm sure the boys can handle this if you want to go."

She shot him a look. "I'm not made of glass you know."

The boys meet them at the bottom of the stairs in the 96th Street station. "Crime scene's a bit of a walk. It's in the 91st Street ghost station. Subway workers flipped the switch in the Lenny Box so the passengers could get out and we can go in safely. The last of the passengers came out a few minutes ago."

"If this is a case where a train hit a tunnel junkie, why were we called in? MTAPD would normally be taking point." Beckett's voice echoed off the tunnel walls as they started their walk.

Ryan held up his phone. "We interviewed some of the passengers as they were brought out. Several of them said they say this girl on the platform."

Beckett took a look at the picture and took a stuttering breath. "Alex. She was here a month ago."

"Maybe you interrupted her a month ago and she decided to lay low for a while." Castle stumbled a little as his toe caught a strut of the tracks.

Esposito shone his light at the tracks. "Careful."

Beckett nodded to Castle's theory. "What do we know about the victim?"

"Nothing so far. There isn't much left of him to identify, at least not that we've found yet." Esposito moved his flashlight around. "We should be getting close."

"We're sure the victim is a man?"

Ryan nodded to Castle's query. "Lanie found a men's shoe with the foot still inside it. I think that's the biggest piece so far."

A light up ahead indicated the platform. Hard at work were the CSU techs and Lanie's crew of M.E. assistants. As the team jumped up onto the platform, they could see Lanie toward the front of the train making notes on her clipboard. Several MTAPD and MTA workers were milling around the platform; a few looked a little green.

"Hey Lanie, whatcha got?"

"Not much. Cause of death is most likely being run over by a subway train, though I can't rule out being fried by the third rail before the train hit him just yet. Besides that, I got nothing. We'll collect what we can; DNA is our best bet for an I.D. If Alex killed him and then dumped him, we'll probably never know."

"Do we know male of female?"

"A man's shoe with a foot attached says white male, probably 20's to early 30's based on the design and style. That's the best I can do for now."

"Thanks Lanie."

"Hold your horses, girl, I ain't done yet."

Beckett turned around. "I don't follow."

"Come this way; I've something to show you."

Lanie led them down a hallway into the equipment storage room. "Bloody footprints led me to this room."

"Looks like there was a struggle. Someone slipped in his blood." Beckett looked away as the image of her father's body swam to the front of her mind.

"Alex killed him. This time she left her knife behind." Castle was watching her closely.

"The body under the train interrupts her, they fight, someone slips in the blood," Beckett turned her attention to the footprints on the floor, "most likely the D.B. is the one who slipped. These footprints are too big to be Alex."

Castle looked around the room as the boys came in. "Looks to me like someone was a long term resident. This place is tricked out."

Esposito jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "The lounge area is tricked out too. I'm thinking this was someone's headquarters."

Beckett was glad for the excuse to leave the room. "Lead the way."

Esposito led the way down the dark hallway toward the lounge. "There's a poker table, giant screen TV, a few gaming systems. I'd say it was a bachelor pad if it wasn't for the location."

Ryan closed the door. "It was soundproofed too."

"Someone was trying to avoid detection." Beckett walked the room, taking in all the items and furniture. "Reminds me of gang hangouts."

Esposito nodded. "That's what I thought. Also thinking that Alex's target's room looked like the leader's room."

Beckett moved toward the door. "I'm going to see if Lanie has something new."

She crossed the threshold, intending to return to the remodeled equipment storage room when she heard a sound farther down the hallway. She stopped and looked down the hall, trying to see the source of the sound. The boys had heard the sound too and came out, followed by Castle.

"What was that?"

Beckett shook her head. "Let's find out."

The group moved down the hallway. It got darker, so Beckett pulled out her flashlight and clicked it on. Gunshots rang out from up ahead. Beckett and the boys drew their weapons and fired back. The shots from the shadows stopped, so the team stopped shooting too. Beckett shone her flashlight down the hall again, searching for a body or someone taking cover.

A single shot rang out from down the hall. Pain erupted across Beckett's abdomen as the bullet hit her and she collapsed.

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**A/N: Starting off with a cliffhanger! Don't forget to leave a comment below; it really helps keep me motivated to write. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I'd like to thank phnxgrl, southerngirl1, MaineCastle, TORONTOSUN, and Chkgun93 for being the first to review the new story! Chkgun93: sometimes a rollercoaster is the best way to start a story. We're starting this chapter where the last one left off. As always, enjoy!**

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Chapter 2

Gunshots rang out and Esposito instinctively grabbed his gun and fired into the darkness where he'd seen the muzzle flashes. To his left, Ryan and Beckett did the same as Castle took cover behind them. The shots from down the hallway stopped, so everyone else stopped firing too. Beckett shone her light down the hallway again. Esposito searched everything the narrow beam touched, but he couldn't see anyone.

From nowhere, another shot was fired. Beckett dropped her flashlight with a low grunt and Esposito fired into the darkness again. A yell told him they'd hit something and this time they heard a gun and body hit the ground. Esposito pulled out his flashlight. The beam fell on Beckett laying face-down on the floor.

"Kate!" Castle rushed to her side.

Lanie reached Beckett almost at the same moment. "Let's turn her over."

"We'll check the hall." Esposito and Ryan moved down the hallway with a few uniforms to find out who'd been shooting at them.

Lanie and Castle got Beckett onto her back. "I don't see any blood."

Castle was frantic. "Why isn't she breathing?"

"I don't know." Lanie started CPR as Castle watched, praying she'd be okay.

After a few chest compressions Beckett gasped and coughed, then grimaced as pain registered again. Lanie started examining her friend and found a hole in her shirt. She lifted the shirt and found a bullet imbedded in the Kevlar vest a few inches above Beckett's right hip.

"Girl, you are lucky Castle got you this vest. It just saved your life."

Beckett nodded, still a little winded. "I noticed. What happened?"

"You got shot…"

Beckett interrupted Castle with an amused smile. "I know that part. I'm talking about after I went down."

He helped her sit up. "Ryan and Esposito kept shooting. I think they got them."

Esposito returned. "We did. And we've secured the rest of the old entrance. The gang that lives down here must have reopened the service access tunnel. Explains why no one has reported a lot of tunnel junkies in this area. You okay Beckett?"

"Yeah, just winded. Who was the shooter?"

"No I.D., just like our other two victims."

Beckett sucked in a breath and grimaced. "I'll head back to the precinct and get started on the board. You guys good here?"

"Yeah, we're good."

Castle helped her stand and stayed close to her side as they retraced they're route back to the 96th Street station. Once they were back at the car, Castle took the wheel and drove them back to the precinct. Together, they set up the board, finishing just as the boys came in. The boys filled them in on what little information they'd found after Beckett and Castle had left. A small weapons cache had been found in the "leader's room"; Ballistics was currently taking possession of the guns and would start testing them as soon as they returned to the lab.

"How's Lanie doing with the first victim?"

"They were in the process of getting the train moved so they could find more of him. She'll be down there a while longer." Esposito added a couple notes to the board.

"Lanie helped us figure out what might have happened down there." Ryan pulled up the station's floor plan on his computer. "Alex gets in somehow, makes her way to the stab victim and kills him."

Esposito pointed at the screen. "The guy who got run over hears the gunshots and checks it out. Alex escapes the room, but he catches up to her on the platform. They have a scuffle and he ends up on the tracks as the train comes through."

Ryan sat down. "I'm going to check footage from the bookending stations; see if Alex got to the ghost station from either of them."

"Do we have an I.D. on the stab victim yet?"

"Not yet. Lanie was going to run his prints and DNA when she got him back here."

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Alex closed the door to the safe house and leaned against it. Her back, knees, hands, and right side were throbbing from being tackled. She shuddered as the image of her assailant being hit by the train swam across her mind's eye, again. Normally the sight of blood and death didn't bother her; she'd been surrounded by it for so long that she'd grown accustomed to the sight. That image though, it wasn't something she'd seen before and there was no way to prepare for it.

"Your handiwork is being admired by the police already. I take it things didn't go as planned?"

Alex sighed and pushed off the door. "One of his goons heard the commotion and tried to stop me. It didn't end well for him."

"I take it he's the one who ended up on the tracks. Did he hurt you?"

She nodded. "He tackled me. I probably have a few new bruises now. At least Hammer is dead. Who's on the case?"

"Take a wild guess."

"Kate."

Sloan nodded. "Today is her first day back too."

Alex shook her head. "This is one hell of a 'welcome back' present."

* * *

**Later that day…**

Beckett lifted up her shirt in the ladies room and examined the developing bruise in the harsh glare of the florescent lights. It was already black and blue rimmed with red and purple. She touched it gently and flinched, sucking in a breath and grimacing as pain flared across her side briefly. Maybe she should follow Castle's advice and take off early to have a doctor take a look.

Karpowski walked in. "Ouch. Looks like a doozy."

Beckett dropped her shirt. "Yeah."

Karpowski looked away awkwardly. "Listen, I want to apologize for the way I treated you a few weeks ago. I was out of line."

Beckett dropped her eyes from the mirror, unable to look Karpowski in the eye. "I…"

"You don't have to say anything. You were dealing with just losing your dad and wanted answers. I shouldn't have attacked you like that."

Beckett nodded, a lump in her throat making it hard to talk. "Do you," she cleared her throat, "do you have anything?"

Karpowski shook her head and sighed. "No. Whoever it was...they've gone underground. We've got nothing new to go off of. I'm sorry." She paused. "Could your victim be my perp? You said Alex Stevens would kill the man who did it if I couldn't find him."

Beckett shook her head. "Anytime Alex makes a kill that's to protect me, she leaves a file at the scene that proves the connection. She didn't do that this time."

"She was interrupted. Maybe she didn't have time."

Beckett forced a smile. "Maybe. If a file of proof shows up, I'll let you know." Beckett returned to her desk and sat back in her chair. So many emotions were running through her right now. Grief for her father's death, anger at Karpowski for bringing it up, grateful that she had apologized for her antagonistic behavior, and determination to figure out the latest Shadow Fox mystery. Castle set a mug of coffee in front of her and sat in his chair before speaking.

"Is everything okay?"

"Hm?"

"You're staring into space. Something wrong?"

Beckett took a deep breath and sighed. "I ran into Karpowski a few minutes ago."

"Oh. Should I be worried about you getting arrested for assault?"

Beckett laughed. "No. She apologized for how she treated me in Lanie's office a month ago. I'm not sure if I should be glad she apologized or angry at her for bringing up his death again so close to my return."

"Both. She made the effort to repair what could have turned into a burned bridge, but her timing was poor." He blew on his coffee and took a cautious sip. "Have you thought about returning to Dr. Burke for a bit?"

She nodded. "I start next week."

"Good."

Beckett turned her attention to the board and read a note out loud. "'Guns found at the station match a few cold cases. Linked to an enforcer known as 'The Hammer'. Files being sent up.'"

"Esposito went to sign for them a few minutes ago." Castle hooked a thumb toward Ryan. "MTA footage came in a couple minutes before that. Ryan is starting with 96th Street."

"Found her." Beckett and Castle joined Ryan at his desk. "An hour before the call came in, she arrives on the platform and opens up a paper. It hides most of her face from the camera, but that's her."

"How long is she on the platform?"

Ryan sped up the footage until Alex folded up the paper. "Looks like fifteen minutes. She waited until the platform emptied."

Castle updated the board. "So we know how she arrived. Was 96th her exit too?"

Ryan sped the footage up again, stopping as Alex hopped onto the platform again. "Yep. She's got blood on her too. Gave the people at the station a scare; they cleared out pretty quick."

"Which is why we couldn't interview them." Beckett straightened up and pulled a face as her bruise flared with pain. "See if you can get the footage from the surrounding area. I'd be nice if we can follow her home."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." She turned as the elevator dinged and Esposito stepped off with a file box. "What'd you find?"

He was followed by three uniforms, also carrying boxes. "Lots of cold cases." He set his box down in the Conference Room and grabbed the first file. "The Hammer. Enforcer for hire, so named because he leaves a hammer behind at the scene. The hammer is always clean, no prints or DNA, but there is a DNA profile on file from the scenes themselves that is believed to be The Hammer."

"Is there an identity besides 'The Hammer'?"

"Nope. Just 'The Hammer'."

"For once in your life, could you stay on camera?!"

Beckett cracked a real smile for the first time in a few hours. "Ryan must have lost Alex. Again." She returned to the bullpen. "Alex give you the slip again?"

He nodded. "I can follow her south for a few blocks, but then she slips into an alley and she's gone."

"Better luck next time."

"Not likely. She seems to know this city like the back of her hand."

Beckett nodded. "Go help Esposito go through The Hammer files. Our case is connected to a few cold ones."

"You got it."

Beckett's phone rang. "Beckett."

"_Hey girl, it's me. I ran the DNA on our three victims and got a few hits_."

"Who are they?" She grabbed a pen and a stack of Post-its.

"_Collision victim's name is Roberto DeSable. Shooter is James Kenway._"

"And Alex's victim?"

"_He doesn't have a name, but he's a match to an unidentified profile in the database. Apparently he's known only as The Hammer._"

Beckett sighed. "Did you try his prints?"

She could almost feel Lanie's scowl through the phone. "_Of course I ran his prints. No hits in IAFIS. Now update your board and get your butt down here so I can run you through my findings_."

"Okay Lanie. See you in ten."

* * *

**A/N: What do you think of the story so far? I couldn't let Karpowski and Beckett remain at odds for too long, and someone had asked what was going on with Karpowski a few chapters ago, so I hope you guys like Karpowski's attempt to reconcile. Leave a review below and thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I would like to thank phnxgrl, southerngirl1, MaineCastle, Chkgun93, and TORONTOSUN for their reviews. We're starting up right where the last chapter left off. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 3

Beckett walked into the morgue eleven minutes later. "You're late."

She glanced at her watch. "I'm only late by a minute."

"You're still late."

Beckett leveled a playful glare at her best friend. "What do you have for me?"

Lanie picked up three reports and flipped open the top one. "First victim is Roberto DeSable. Hispanic male, 29. Long rap sheet, but you can read that yourself. COD is being run over by a subway train. We managed to recover more of him once the train was moved, but he was pretty mangled. If his DNA wasn't on file from one of his many arrests, he would have been a John Doe."

"So it was the train that killed him, not the third rail?"

"That's correct. Most of his pieces didn't show signs of electrocution, so that's my best guess." She handed Beckett the first report and opened the second, moving to stand next to a slab. "Moving on; second victim is James Kenway, white male, 27. I fished four bullets out of him. I sent them to Ballistics, but there really isn't a question of who shot him. Esposito said I.A. had already cleared you guys?"

"Yeah. A cop getting shot tends to speed up that process."

"I'll bet." Lanie handed Beckett the second folder and opened the last one. "We assumed Alex must have been interrupted. Now I know she was."

Beckett followed Lanie to "The Hammer's" slab. "What'd you find?"

"Normally she partially severs both the inferior vena cava and the abdominal aorta artery. This time she only hit the inferior vena cava."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means it took him longer to bleed out. I also found GSR on his hand."

Beckett nodded. "That matches Esposito's theory."

Lanie handed her the last report. "I've sent his picture to Ryan. Maybe you'll get lucky and I.D. him."

"Fingers crossed." Beckett turned to go.

"Hey, before you go. Have you had a doctor check you out yet?"

"Lanie, I'm fine. It's just a bruise."

Lanie took Beckett's arm. "Let me take a look. I don't want you on my slab later because it wasn't looked at."

Beckett followed Lanie into her office. "While we're doing this, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course. What's on your mind?"

Beckett leaned against Lanie's desk. "Is it bad that I almost don't want to catch Alex?"

Lanie had lifted her friend's shirt and was gently touching the bruise. "Have you talked to Castle about this?"

Beckett sucked in a breath then spoke through clenched teeth. "I have a feeling he'd agree with me. It doesn't help to wonder something if he'll take my side. So, do you think it's a bad thing?"

"That depends. What's your reason?"

"It seems that ever since we figured out she was The Shadow Fox, she's started to target just the bad guys. I mean…I know it's not justice, but it is helping to clean up the city."

Lanie looked confused. "Are you saying you approve of her methods?"

"What? No, of course not. I'm just not sure if arresting her is the best thing to do right now. She's been protecting me. Why? I don't know. But what if she's protecting Castle too? His life is in danger."

Lanie shrugged. "Well, I can see where you're coming from. But you're also a cop. It's your duty to arrest her."

"But is it a bad thing that I don't want to?"

Lanie lowered her friend's shirt and looked down, thinking. "I don't think it's a bad thing. If Javi's life was in danger, I'd want to do everything I could to protect him. However, I don't think you really have a choice."

Beckett nodded. "I know. Thanks for letting me vent."

Lanie smiled. "I'm always here when you need to talk. All you have to do is open your mouth."

"So what's my diagnosis?"

"Take it easy. No field work that involves chasing someone down or tackling them. Let the boys or some uniforms take care of that stuff. Doctor's orders."

"Yes ma'am." Beckett pushed off the desk and collected the folders. "I'd better get these upstairs."

"I'll see if I can find anything to help I.D. The Hammer."

"Thanks Lanie." Beckett returned to the bullpen to see Castle and Esposito in the Conference Room with the files and Ryan at his desk running The Hammer's face through facial recognition. She made a pit stop at the board to update it and then joined her fiancé in the Conference Room. "Find anything yet?"

"Nothing to identify who The Hammer is. Ryan will probably have better luck." Esposito set down the file he'd been reading and stretched. "Good news is that The Hammer was a local. None of the cases he's associated with are out of state. Few are outside the city."

"That is good. Ballistics on the guns you found come back yet?"

He tossed her a file. "Came back a few minutes ago. All the guns were either reported stolen by their owners well before they were used, or they belonged to Hammer's victims." The phone at his desk rang. "Excuse me."

Castle set down the file he was reading. "You were down in the morgue for a while. Everything okay?"

Beckett nodded. "Lanie wanted to do a checkup and I had to talk to her about something."

"Wedding?"

She shook her head. "No, Alex. We'll talk about it tonight."

Ryan turned in his chair to look at them. "Got something." Beckett and Castle went to his desk. "Meet Jerome Spencer, a.k.a. The Hammer. This is the guy down in the morgue."

"Nice work Ryan. What do we know about him?"

"He has a sealed juvie record. Arrested once for assault during a bar fight; served six months inside, plus a one year probation after he was released. Since then, he's pretty clean."

"Probably got smart and learned how to stay off the radar." Castle tilted his head back in thought. "What is it with the hammers he leaves behind at the scenes?"

Beckett turned to her fiancé. "Does it matter?"

"Well, there's a story there. Every killer that leaves a signature has a reason to do so. So what was Spencer's?"

Esposito hung up the phone. "Maybe he wanted to be known as The Hammer."

"Maybe. Doesn't seem quite right though. I think it's a way to send a message. Maybe he's saying, 'I brought down the hammer.'" He paused to think about it. "No, that doesn't seem right either."

"Whatever the reason, The Hammer has been identified, so those cases are closed now." Beckett glanced at her watch. "It's getting late. I say we wrap up for the night, start again in the morning."

Esposito finished writing his note. "One more thing before we do. Ballistics is running the bullets from the ceiling and the shootout now. Hopefully the bullets in the ceiling will match a gun we collected."

"That would be nice." Beckett looked at the crime scene photos. "There isn't a gun near Spencer when this was taken, and no gun was found on the tracks with DeSable; maybe Kenway was using it to shoot at us."

Ryan pulled on his coat. "Well, I say we figure that out in the morning. Night guys."

* * *

After dinner that night, Kate and Rick found themselves on the couch. Kate was curled into his side, her glass of wine sitting forgotten on the coffee table. Rick sat by her side in silence, stroking her arm. He knew there was something she wanted to talk about, but he was letting her set the pace. He'd been doing that ever since her father died; she was the one to dictate the speed at which they dealt with things as long as she didn't shut him out. She smiled inside. Rick's patience with her made her realize, once again, just how much he loved her. She wished she'd had a friend like him when her mother died; maybe then she wouldn't have internalized everything.

Rick cleared his throat, signaling that the sitting in silence couldn't continue. "So, you had something to talk about? What's going on?"

She sighed. "I'm not really sure I want to arrest Alex. Not yet at least."

"Is it because of the guardian angel thing?"

"Yeah. Lately, she's only been targeting bad guys. I know what she's doing is illegal, that's not a question, but is it really so different from what your father does?"

Rick paused to think about it. "My father does what he does for the government. The CIA tells him who to kill or what to do, and he finds a way to do it. Alex is either doing this on her own, or she's working for The Gentleman. For all we know, he's the one who sent her to kill The Hammer."

"I hadn't thought about that."

"I understand where your mind is at though. Arresting Alex may mean that we lose the protection she's been providing or that your father's killer doesn't get caught quickly. Whatever it means, I don't think we shouldn't at least try to find her. You don't want to willingly let her go. A move like that could kill your entire career, not to mention your reputation and credibility as a cop."

Kate sighed. "I know."

"I understand your reason, I really do. But you're a cop. It is your job to arrest her, no matter how much you may not want to."

Kate nodded. "You're right."

"Now I've got a question for you."

"What?"

Rick shifted so he could look her in the eye. "At the crime scene, you seemed to be in a hurry to get out of there even before you'd been shot. What was going on?"

Kate looked down. "I was seeing my dad on that floor. It was a flashback to finding him like that."

"That's what I thought." He paused, studying her face for her tells. "Are you sure you're okay with being back?"

He thought he saw a flicker of something, but it was gone as she raised her head to look at him. "I'm fine. It was just a little too familiar. I'm fine."

"Kate, I'm just trying to take care of you. I don't like it when your walls go up and shut me out. Please don't shut me out completely."

She reached out and cupped his cheek. "I'm okay. Am I one hundred percent? No. But I can handle this case. The crime scene caught me by surprise, that's all. Trust me."

"I do."

She kissed him gently. "Thank you for listening."

"Always."

Her phone started to ring from the bedroom. "Who could be calling me right now?" She stood up.

Rick followed her. "Are you on call tonight?"

"No." She looked at the screen. "It's Jenny. Hello?"

"_Kate? Kate, you have to come quickly! He took Kevin!_"

"Slow down Jenny. Who took Kevin?"

"_I don't know, some man. Kevin had just come home with the groceries and opened the door when this guy slammed him into the doorway and grabbed his gun. I just froze; I didn't know what to do._"

"Jenny, I'm on my way. Call 911 and tell them what happened. I'll call Javi and have him come down. Are the girls safe?"

"_Yes, they're fine. I'd already put them down for the night. Oh Kate, what am I going to tell them?_"

"Don't worry about that just yet. Do what I told you, I'm coming." She hung up. "Someone abducted Ryan when he got home tonight."

Castle headed for the front door. "I'm coming with you."

Beckett followed him, grabbing the coat her tossed her. "Never thought you weren't."

They pulled on their coats as they breezed out the door. Castle locked up in record time and they ran to the elevator. Beckett called Esposito while they waited for the lift, letting him know what had happened. Before she'd finished the story, he'd promised to be there as soon as he could. The lift arrived and the couple boarded it, Beckett pocketing her phone and Castle hitting the button for the parking level.

* * *

Beckett and Castle arrived at Ryan's building as the blue and whites were arriving. Beckett flashed her badge and the uniforms nodded, letting the couple join them in the elevator to the apartment. The elevator stopped on the fifth floor and everyone got off. Blue painter's tape was stretched across the hall a few feet from both sides of Ryan's apartment and a bag of groceries had spilled in the doorway.

Jenny poked her head out of the apartment when she heard them get close. "I tried to tape off the scene so it wouldn't get contaminated. I didn't touch anything else."

Beckett ducked under the tape and pulled Jenny into a hug. "You did the right thing. Has anything happened since Ryan was taken?"

She shook her head, sobbing. "No, nothing. Kate, why did this happen?"

"I don't know. Tell me everything that happened…"

Beckett trailed off as the phone started to ring. Jenny turned toward it in surprise and then ran to it, checking the caller I.D. as she picked it up. She looked up at Beckett and then back at the phone in silence.

"Jenny, who is it?"

"It's Ryan."

"Answer it."

She nodded and hit the accept button. "Hello?"

* * *

**A/N: Aaannnddd...another cliffhanger. Sorry about that (okay, maybe I'm not...). If you have a theory about what's going to happen, leave it in the comment box below. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I'd like to thank MaineCastle, momandwife33, phnxgrl, southerngirl1, Chkgun93, and TORONTOSUN for their reviews. momandwife33: welcome to the story and I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope you continue to like the story and look forward to more reviews :). Chkgun93 and TORONTOSUN: get ready for more cliffhangers because the next few chapters all seem to end on one (varying degrees). We're starting this chapter right where the last one left off. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 4

"Hello?"

The man on the other end was using a voice changer. "_Put the cops on the phone. And I don't want just anyone. I want to speak to Detective Beckett_."

Jenny lowered the phone from her ear, her lower lip trembling. "I don't know who it is, but they want to talk to you."

Beckett took the phone. "This is Detective Beckett."

"_I'm gonna make this simple for you. Shane Cassy is an innocent man that your Irish friend locked up for no reason. So, as I said, I'm gonna make this simple for you. Let him go and you can have this pathetic excuse for a cop back. Have I made myself clear?_"

"I understand your demands…" The line went dead. "Hello? He hung up on me."

Esposito had just arrived. "Who was it?"

"He never said. Does the name Shane Cassy ring a bell?"

Esposito nodded. "We arrested him while you were…on vacation. Why?"

Beckett noticed his hesitation and figured out what he was referring to. "Ryan's kidnapper wants to make a swap, Ryan for Shane. Seems to think Shane is innocent."

Esposito glanced at Jenny and then back at Beckett. "I'll start going over the case again; see if we rushed to judgment."

"Good."

"Do we have a timetable?"

Beckett shook her head. "He didn't give one before he hung up. The call came from Ryan's phone, so try to track it."

"You got it."

Esposito gave Jenny a hug, told her everything was going to be fine, and headed out to get started. Beckett glanced around. CSU was just arriving and opening their kits to get to work. She stuck her head out the door and saw uniforms starting to canvass the neighbors. Hopefully someone saw or heard something that might help. Beckett went back inside and looked at Jenny. She hadn't moved since Esposito left and looked lost. Castle was in the kitchen getting a glass of water.

Beckett went back to Jenny. "Jenny, come here, let's sit down."

"Okay." She sat on the couch, eyes darting, fingers fidgeting in her lap. "Kate, what do I do?"

"Jenny, just take a breath and try to relax. Esposito is looking into the case the caller mentioned. I need you to think back and tell me everything that happened when Ryan was taken. Can you do that?"

Castle set the water glass down on the coffee table in front of Jenny as she shook her head. "I don't know."

He grabbed a chair from the dining area and set it near the couch. "Anything you can remember will help. If we can find out who took Ryan, we'll be able to find him sooner."

She nodded. "Okay."

Beckett shot Castle a "thank you" look. "Start from the beginning, whatever you can remember."

"Kevin had just opened the door. Someone said his name, and he started to turn," she paused, taking a shaky breath, "that's when he was slammed into the doorframe."

"Was he knocked out?"

"No." She shook her head. "No, they struggled. That man managed to get Kevin's gun and he hit him with it. That's when he was knocked out."

Castle glanced at Beckett. "What were you doing while that was happening?"

"When Kevin was slammed into the doorframe, I froze. I couldn't believe that was happening. When they started to struggle, I went for Kevin's spare. The girls are still young enough that he can keep it there." Jenny pointed to a box on an eye level shelf.

Beckett wrote a couple notes. "Then what happened?"

Jenny's lip started trembling. "He pointed the gun at me before I could get the spare. Told me to be quiet and said he'd shoot me if I did anything stupid. He tossed Kevin's handcuffs to me; told me to cuff myself to the table leg. When I didn't move, he pointed the gun at Kevin and said he'd kill him if I didn't do it."

"So you cuffed yourself to the table. How'd you get out?"

"After he left, I lifted the table enough to slip the cuffs under the leg. Kevin keeps a spare set of keys with the gun." She looked like she'd just remembered something. "I put the handcuffs in a sandwich bag; they might have his prints on them. I put them in the box." Jenny moved to get them.

"We'll have CSU collect them. What happened next, how did he take Kevin?" Beckett put a hand on Jenny's shoulder as she sat down again.

"I don't know. He pulled Kevin out of the doorway and closed the door. I don't know how he got him out of the building. By the time I'd gotten un-cuffed and opened the door, they were gone. That's when I called you."

Castle adjusted his chair. "What did he look like?"

"He was tall, taller than you, and big. White, shaved head; and he had tattoos all over his neck and the back of his head. I think one of them was a swastika."

Beckett wrote that down. "Would you recognize the tattoos if you saw them again?"

"Yes. I can't describe them very well, but I would recognize them in an instant."

"Good. Do you have somewhere else you can stay? Family or friends?"

"My mother's coming to get the kids tomorrow; she'll take them to her house for a while. I'm not leaving the city though. I can't. Not until Kevin's home."

Castle stood and put his phone to his ear as Beckett pulled Jenny into a hug. "We're going to find him. Kevin has saved my life a few times. I'm not giving up on him."

"Thank you."

Castle returned. "I've booked you a room at a hotel close to the precinct. You and the girls can stay there tonight so the cops can work here, and you can stay there as long as you need to."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Don't worry about it. It's the least I can do."

Jenny stood and gave Castle a hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you need any help getting the girls ready to go?"

"Yeah, actually, I could use some help."

Beckett checked her watch. "I'll head to the precinct and help Esposito. Get Jenny settled and then get some sleep. I need someone awake to help tomorrow."

"Sure thing." He gave her a kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."

* * *

Beckettarrived at the precinct a little after midnight. The bullpen was dark except for the strip of lights over her team's desks. Esposito was at his computer, hard at work. Beckett pulled the board into the light and wrote down everything Jenny had told her before going into the break room and fixing two coffees. If they were going to be here for a while, they were going to need the fuel.

"Here." She set one of the coffees down on his desk.

"Thanks."

"What have you found?"

"The case I mentioned? I didn't want to say it in front of Jenny, but it was a slam dunk. Shane Cassy was caught committing the murder on camera. There's no way he's an innocent man."

Beckett pulled Ryan's chair around and sat down. "Bring me up to speed."

Esposito pulled up the information. "Victim's name was Raymond White, African American, 35. He was stabbed to death inside a bodega on 3rd Ave. Security camera footage was good quality, which is how we were able to identify Shane as the doer."

Beckett glanced between Shane's booking photos and the footage. "That is the same guy. The tattoo on his hand is the biggest giveaway."

"Aryan Brotherhood. When we arrested him, he called me all sorts of names. My guess is, if Ryan was abducted to negotiate for Shane's release, someone from the Brotherhood is behind it."

"Makes sense." Beckett stood and went to the board. "Jenny gave me a vague description of the attacker. Let's start going through the database and flag anyone that matches. We can give her a photo array in the morning."

"Good idea." He paused. "Where's Castle?"

"Helping Jenny get settled into a hotel nearby. If the same guy goes back, I didn't want her to be there."

Esposito nodded and got back to work. Beckett woke up her computer and pulled up the mug shot database. She entered in a few filters, which narrowed down the results a little, but there were still a few hundred results. This was going to be a long night.

The elevator doors opened and Captain Gates stepped off. "What's going on and where are we at?"

"Sir, Ryan was abducted as he arrived home. We have a vague description, so we're trying to put together a photo array to show to Jenny."

"And why is it Mr. Castle is the one who had to call me? Did you two think I wouldn't want to know if one of my people was in harm's way?"

Beckett hesitated. "We didn't want to wake you at this hour. I was planning on filling you in on the situation in the morning when we had more to report."

Gates shed her coat. "Where can I help?"

Esposito snapped into the report. "I'm working on identifying Shane Cassy's known associates."

"I'm working on using Jenny's description to pull out mug shots."

Gates nodded. "Looks like you could use someone on the tattoo database or security footage of the area around Ryan's building. I'll look into the footage."

"Thank you sir."

She headed into her office. "Let me know what you find."

* * *

Ryan woke up in the dark. His head was throbbing where he'd been pistol whipped and his shoulders were aching. He tried to move his hands so he could hold his head only to find they were cuffed behind his back.

A door opened in the distance and a sliver of light came in, but then the door slammed and the light was extinguished. Ryan strained his ears to hear what was happening. A soft tinckling sound echoed through the room. _He's probably chaining the door shut_. Suddenly the lights came on, blinding Ryan. He shut his eyes and then opened them a crack, letting them adjust to the brightness.

"How long will it take the cops to get a prisoner released?"

Ryan's headache was making it hard for him to think. "Hunh?"

"Don't play games with me!"

"I'm not, I promise. I just don't know what you're talking about."

His captor spoke again, slowly this time. "How long will it take the cops to get a prisoner released?"

Ryan shook his head. "It depends on why he's being released. At minimum it'll take a couple days, and none of the paperwork can be processed in the dead of night. The earliest they can get to work on it is in the morning when judges and everyone else are awake. Why? What are you doing this for?"

His captor glared at him for a couple minutes. "You're going to help me get my brother released."

"Who's your brother?"

"Shane Cassy."

* * *

**A/N: What do you think is going to happen? Leave a review in the comments below! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I'd like to thank MaineCastle, southerngirl1, phnxgrl, Chkgun93, and TORONTOSUN for their reviews. MaineCastle: just to clarify, the footage was of the murder Shane Cassy committed while Beckett was out on bereavement leave. Shane Cassy is the person Ryan's abductor wants to get out of jail. Hope that clears things up a bit. We're starting this chapter a few hours after the last one ended. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Just to warn you in advance, toward the end there will be some things that a character says that might be offensive to some readers. These are the beliefs/opinions of the character only and not my own personal beliefs and opinions.**

* * *

Chapter 5

Beckett was on her fourth cup of coffee by the time the sun started peaking in the windows of the precinct. She rubbed her eyes and stretched, feeling as though her eyes were going cross-eyed from starting at the computer. Too many perps had matched Jenny's vague description, so she'd started to coordinate with Esposito to see if Shane's known associates matched the description. In all, they'd identified fifteen who had the height and build, but only three had the number of tattoos.

"My money's on the brother, Jeremy. Anyone in the Aryan Brotherhood could do this, but he strikes me as the only one that would." Esposito moved Jeremy's picture to the top of the deck they'd printed out.

Beckett nodded. "Let's have Jenny make the I.D. before we make that call. Put his picture toward the middle. I don't want to be accused of leading when this goes to trial."

The elevator opened and Castle came in with a cup holder of coffees, a large bag of takeout containers, and a smaller bag. "I brought breakfast." Beckett smiled as he set up shop on the desk across from her and started handing out the boxes. "They're all the same, but I've got salsas and syrups to customize your pancakes and eggs to your heart's content. And I've got creamers and sugar for the coffee too, so dig in."

Gates had come out of her office. "What do we have here?"

Castle handed her one of the takeout boxes. "Pancakes, eggs, and coffee. There's salsa, syrups and creamers in the bag. Help yourself."

"Oh, you are a godsend."

"I do what I can. Now, how can I help?"

"We're waiting on a phone call from Ryan's abductor to see exactly what he wants. Until then, we started talking with the prison to see about transferring Shane to our holding cell. And we need to talk to Jenny; see if she recognizes anyone in our list of suspects." Beckett took a bite of eggs.

Castle sat down and dumped some salsa on his eggs. "She told me her mother was arriving at nine. She'll be available after that."

Beckett's cell phone started to ring. She glanced down at the screen, and then signaled Esposito to start a trace. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number, speaking quietly as Beckett answered. "Beckett."

"_Where are you on releasing Shane Cassy?_"

"We're working with the prison to transfer him to our precinct right now, but it'll take a while. Judges aren't usually at the courthouses until nine, so it's going to take some time for the release paperwork to go through."

Voice Change didn't sound happy. "_How long?_"

Beckett decided to stall, trying to let the trace do its job. "Well, that all depends…"

"_Do you care for your colleague or not?_"

"Of course I care."

"_You have until tomorrow morning, 9am. If Shane Cassy's not out by then, your friend will get it._"

The line went dead. "Did we get it?"

Esposito shook his head. "Needed a few more seconds."

Gates set down her fork and grabbed her coffee to take them to her office. "I'll get to work on the transfer."

Esposito was shocked. "We're actually going to release this guy, Captain?"

"Of course not. But we've already said we were working on transferring him here. This man may call again, and when he does, I want Shane Cassy here and available to talk to. That'll keep this guy from getting suspicious and killing Ryan before the deadline."

Beckett glanced at her watch. "We have about 24 hours to rescue Ryan. Castle and I'll work with Jenny. If she can identify Ryan's attacker, we can start working on tracking him down."

Castle set down his fork. "He's using Ryan's phone. Can't we just track that?"

Esposito shook his head. "Tried that. He's smart enough to turn the phone off when he's done with a call. Tori's going to keep trying though."

"Good, keep on that. Let's go, Castle."

* * *

They got to the hotel room just before nine. Jenny let them in and took a seat on the couch. Beckett sat next to her and Castle started to play with the girls. For a few minutes, the women watched Castle and the girls in silence. Sarah Grace was almost two and wanted Castle to swing her around, but Cathleen Alexandra was currently crawling around on Castle's lap, so he couldn't stand up.

Jenny sighed, breaking the silence. "They don't know what's going on. I told Sarah that Daddy was still at work. What if he doesn't come home?"

"Don't think like that Jenny. We're working really hard to find him."

"I know you are." She sniffed. "I'm scared Kate. This is like when Sarah was born and Kevin was trapped in that building. I can't do that again." Sarah looked up at her mom at the sound of her name and then Castle distracted her with a teddy bear.

Beckett smiled. "They seem to like him."

Jenny nodded. "He's so good with them."

"His experience with Alexis prepared him for that. When does your mom get here?"

"Any minute now." There was a knock on the door. "That must be her."

Jenny got up and opened the door. Introductions were made and the group helped get the girls into Jenny's mother's car. Jenny and her mom had a conversation by the car before they hugged and the car was driven away. Beckett had to turn away during the conversation because watching was making her sad. Her mother and father would never get to hold her kids or take them to the cabin for a weekend. Castle pulled her into his arms and held her close, letting her know without saying anything that he understood.

They returned to the room before Jenny spoke. "You had something to show me, right?"

"Yes," Beckett spread out the stack of photos, "does anyone look familiar to you?"

"That's him." Jenny picked up the photo of Shane's brother, Jeremy. "That's the guy who took Kevin. Who is he?"

"Jeremy Cassy. He's the older brother of Shane Cassy."

"He wants his brother released or Kevin dies?" Beckett nodded and Jenny glanced between Beckett and Castle. "So do it."

"It's not that easy…"

"Why not? Kevin will die if you don't. Why can't you?"

"Shane Cassy murdered a man. It was caught on tape. We can't release a convicted murderer." Beckett paused to remain calm. "I understand what you're feeling, Jenny, I do. Kevin is our friend and I want to bring him home safely."

"Is this the part where you tell me you're doing everything in your power to get him back?" Jenny was getting angry. "Saying that doesn't do anything; you know that, right?"

"If there's one thing I know about Kate, it's that when she says she'll do everything in her power, she means that she will do **everything** in her power." Castle sat down across from Jenny. "Where other cops say those sorts of things because it sounds good or makes them look good, Kate makes a promise."

"Jenny, I care about Kevin too. He's my partner and my friend. I promise you, we will get him back."

Jenny sniffed, her anger dissolving into fear and worry again. "I know. I'm just scared, Kate. I don't want to lose him."

"You won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm not going to let that happen."

* * *

"Thanks."

Castle turned toward her in his seat. "For what?"

Beckett didn't take her eyes off the road. "For stepping in when Jenny started getting angry. I'm not handling this very well and her going off on me like that… I was about to walk out or start yelling at her. So thank you."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I've always got your back. I could tell something was off. You looked like you were drowning; I couldn't just sit there and let you take the brunt of it. I gotta ask though, what's going on?"

They'd come to a stop light and Beckett sighed. "I think I may have tried to come back too soon. Dad's death is still very raw. After my mom died, I had some time between her death and when I joined the force. With Montgomery, I was out for months because I'd been shot."

Castle nodded. "But this time it's only been a month."

"Exactly. Gates suggested that I should take some more time. Maybe I should have listened."

"Ryan needs you right now. When we get him back, then you can consider taking more time. Right now though, he needs you."

The light turned green. "You're right. I gotta focus."

The rest of the way back to the precinct, they ran what they knew. At the moment they didn't have much to go on, but it was a start. Jenny's I.D. placed Shane Cassy's brother Jeremy at the top of the suspect list, which made the most sense. Shane and Jeremy both had ties to the Aryan Brotherhood, so anyone in the brotherhood might try to get Shane out by kidnapping a cop, but the attack that Jenny had described seemed a little too personal to be just anyone in the brotherhood. If the evidence CSU had collected corroborated the I.D., then Jeremy would become the prime suspect. After talking things through with Castle, Beckett was starting to feel more focused and was in control of her emotions for now. They arrived at the precinct, parked, and went inside to update the board and Gates.

Gates pointed to a still on the board after their report. "Jenny's I.D. matches up to something I found. I've been through all the footage we could get from around the Ryans' building. I never saw Ryan being brought out of the building, but I did see this car moving very quickly out of the area. It seemed suspicious, so I ran the plate. That's Jeremy Cassy's car."

"So Jeremy Cassy is definitely our guy." Beckett put his photo up on the board. "What do we know about him?"

"White supremacist, multiple assault charges, suspect in a rape case." Gates gestured to Esposito. "He's been looking into Shane a little more; seeing if there was something we could use to have him cooperate."

"Where are we on the transfer?"

"Waiting for a judge to approve it. I'm working on it."

"Thank you sir."

She nodded. "Let's bring him home, Detective."

Beckett headed to Esposito. "What have you found?"

"Nothing we can use. This guy is a piece of work; listen to him."

He turned up the volume on the video of Shane testifying at his trial. "_Why did you plead 'not guilty' when you were clearly caught on camera killing Mr. White?_"

"_Why? Because I'm being charged with the wrong crime_."

"_I don't follow_."

"_I'm being charged with First Degree Murder. That charge only applies to human beings. 'Mr. White'_," Shane made the bunny ears sign as he said the victim's name, "_wasn't a human. He's a monkey. If you were to charge me with animal cruelty or something like that, I'll plead guilty_."

Esposito stopped the video. "It doesn't get any better."

Castle was shaking his head. "I don't understand how some people can think like that."

"This world is full of things that don't make sense. Believe me, that's mild compared to some of the things I've had to deal with over my career." Beckett folded her arms. "So Shane's not going to help us."

"Unlikely. I'll keep looking."

"No, start looking into the Cassy family. Look for properties, land, storage units; if they have any places you could hide someone, I want to know about it." Her desk phone started to ring. "Be ready to trace this if it's the kidnapper."

"On it." Esposito picked up a folder. "Oh, CSU report on the handcuffs came back. Cassy handled them."

"Good to know we can place him at the scene without Jenny's I.D." Beckett returned to her desk to pick up the phone. "Beckett."

* * *

**A/N: Just a recap of the disclaimer above: I do not in any way agree with the comments Shane Cassy made in the ****footage from his ****trial. That is the opinion and/or belief of the character only. Please keep that in mind as we move forward because there will be more of that as we continue. Leave a review below, I'd love to hear your theories about what's going to happen. Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I'd like to thank phnxgrl, southerngirl1, Chkgun93, and TORONTOSUN for their reviews. We're starting this chapter where the last one left off. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Just like last chapter, this one will have some language that might offend. Please remember that these are just statements of a certain ideology and not my own personal beliefs or opinions.**

* * *

Chapter 6

"Beckett."

"_Has Shane been transferred yet?_"

"We're working on arranging transport as we speak." She signaled to Esposito. "How do I know Ryan is still alive?"

"_You don't trust me?_"

"Well, you're making it difficult to believe you've kept him alive. Most kidnappings I've dealt with have sent a proof of life video or let the hostage talk to us briefly. You've done neither."

"_You do play hardball, don't you, Detective?_"

Beckett's browed creased in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"_I've looked you up. You seem like a good white woman. I need you to prove yourself. Then I'll let you speak to him_."

She looked at Castle. "What do you mean?"

"_Prove that you're a pure white woman. So many people these days don't have a sense of pride in their race. So I want to know, do you?_"

Beckett paused, weighing her choices. Ryan's kidnapper wanted to see if she was a white supremacist like him. She could be honest but she needed to stall for time. She was going to have to lie through her teeth and agree with him. Esposito caught her eye and nodded, letting her know he understood.

She sighed. "Of course I have pride."

"_Then why is your partner a potato?_"

"A potato?" She glanced up in time to see Esposito pointing at himself._ Cassy's using some sort of slang term_. "You're talking about Esposito. Look, I can't help who I'm assigned to work with. The best I can do is make the most of a bad situation." She caught Esposito's smirk and was glad she hadn't insulted him…yet.

"_And your captain. I can't imagine having to work for an animal like that_."

"Again, not a call I made. That was the brass at 1PP."

"_Why not transfer precincts?_"

"I like being a homicide cop. If I transferred to a different precinct, I'd have to change my focus as well."

There was a pause on the other side of the line. "_You say you have pride. I want you to explain why you gave the eulogy at your previous captain's funeral. That sort of behavior is beneath you._"

_That bastard_. Beckett was willing to lie and pretend about her current colleagues, but there was no way she could betray Montgomery's memory like that. But she also couldn't drop her "proud white woman" act either; Ryan's life was at stake. Maybe there was a way to preserve the persona…

"Listen, I'd love to go down the list of all the people I've disliked working with, but we could be at that for days. Are you going to let me speak to Detective Ryan and verify that he is alive or not?"

The voice on the other end chuckled. "_I figured you couldn't explain your actions at the funeral. You're no better than the slimy mutts who've bought into the government funded politically-correct propaganda._"

The line went dead and Beckett cursed under her breath as she slammed the phone onto the cradle. "Tell me we got an address."

Esposito nodded. "Yeah, SWAT is already on their way."

"Let's go."

* * *

Castle and Beckett strapped their vests on in silence, both nervous. Ryan was in the building at the end of the street; they wanted to save him, but at the same time they were worried he'd get killed in the crossfire. It was going to be tricky.

Castle patted his vest, checking it. "I'm going to assume you want me to stay outside."

"Good assumption. If things go sideways, I don't want to lose you too." She moved to join the raid.

"Hey." She turned back. "You're going to get him out. It's going to be fine."

She smiled. "Thanks." Beckett joined the raid, limping slightly as the bruise on her hip started to throb again. She should have been given a few days off to take care of her injury after the shooting in the ghost station, but Ryan's abduction had negated that. _We're going to get him back right now; I can take time off after that_.

Beckett took her position behind the SWAT team. They were lined up against the wall, ready to breech. The officer at the head of the line checked that everyone was ready, then opened the door and went inside. The rest of the group followed him in, fanning out to search the building as quickly and quietly as possible. Beckett followed the group that went right, gun out and down, eyes darting to check everywhere.

The hallway they were in had a few rooms branching off of it, but each one was as empty as the one before. Beckett was starting to get the feeling they were in the wrong building, but this is where the trace on that phone call had led them. _He has to be here_. The hallway ended in a set of double doors. The group paused outside for a count of three and then rushed through the doors.

They were in a large room, the remnants of a gymnasium for the abandoned community center. The other SWAT team was just entering through the door on the other side of the room, but no one else was in sight. Both teams quickly swept the room to no avail. Ryan wasn't here.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Alex and Sloan were sparing on the mat in the middle of the living room. It had been a while since she'd done this with him and it showed. Sloan normally was able to hold his own against her; today she'd already knocked him down five times and he'd only managed to get her off balance once. She was going to have to do this with him more often.

His computer chirped. "There's no way it's been an hour already."

Sloan lowered his arms and headed for the system. "That wasn't the timer alarm. Something else came up."

She was tempted to do a takedown while his back was turned, but that wasn't a fair fight. "What is it?"

"Don't know yet." He sat down and turned on the monitors. "A keyword search hit. Let's see…It was on the police scanner. Ok, Beckett is calling something in."

"Let's listen in."

"Done."

Beckett's voice came in over the police scanner. "_Detective Ryan's not here. I need CSU and I.T. at my location to process a scene_."

"_Copy Detective Beckett. Sending CSU and I.T. to your location._"

"What happened to Ryan?" Alex took off her arm guards and Sloan started to type.

"It looks like he was abducted last night."

"Is The Gentleman behind it?"

"Not according to the case file. It looks like a Jeremy Cassy is the suspect. He's a white supremacist."

"Why would a white supremacist abduct Ryan?"

"No idea." Sloan pulled up Jeremy Cassy's phone info. "Let's see if I can track him down."

While Sloan tried tracking Ryan's abductor down, Alex went into her room and changed. She was not going to let Kate lose someone else she cared about. If there was any way to help, she was going to do so. Once she was dressed, she packed her bag and returned to the living room to see Sloan throw up his hands in frustration.

"What happened?"

"His phone is offline. I'm guessing he's currently using a burner; I'll have to keep an eye on the I.T. team to get the burner's number."

Alex set her bag down and leaned over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"According to the police, he used an app Dark Phoenix created to redirect where the call was coming from. I.T. should be able to get the number the call originated from off that and go from there. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to head down there so I'm close enough to help if necessary."

"That's a dangerous game."

She kissed him and slung her bag over her head so the strap crossed her chest. "Dangerous is my middle name."

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

It took almost an hour for CSU and I.T. to arrive. That was precious time lost that they desperately needed to find and rescue Ryan. Beckett glanced at her watch as the techs got to work. Ryan had been abducted a little over twelve hours ago. Time was quickly ticking away and not even an oversized tank of liquid nitrogen could slow it down. They needed to find something fast.

Esposito came over. "So Tori says the reason we traced the call here was because of the setup over there. You should talk to her; she wants to show you how it works."

"Meaning you didn't understand her tech talk."

He shrugged. "That's more Ryan's department."

Beckett nodded and headed over to Tori with Castle in tow. "Javi said you had something to show me."

"I had a feeling he didn't understand what I was talking about. I'll try to simplify it so you do. This little setup is how they fooled our trace. It's basically a relay; just download an app from the electronic black market, hook the phones together with a cable, and you can use another phone to call this burner phone," she held up the phone that was connected to Ryan's phone, "which will redirect the call through Detective Ryan's phone."

"How'd the call get to the precinct?"

"That's the other half of the app's job. The precinct, or more specifically your desk extension, was preprogramed into the app. When the call got redirected to Ryan's phone, the app made his phone dial the preprogrammed number."

Castle looked up from the phones. "So when we traced the call, the trace zeroed in on Ryan's phone."

"Exactly. The app also prevents the connection between the phones from being detected, so we didn't know a relay was being used."

Beckett bit her lower lip in thought. "Is there a way to track the phone that originated the call?"

Tori nodded. "We have the number he called from now, but it's off. I can keep a search open for it. If he turns it on and calls anyone, I'll know."

Castle shook his head. "Jeremy Cassy went through a lot of trouble to throw us off his scent. I'm willing to bet that number belongs to another burner. He'll have tossed it by now."

Tori nodded. "That's entirely possible. I'll keep a search open anyway, just in case."

"Thanks." Beckett walked away and then pulled Castle to the side. "What was that back there?"

"What?"

"I realize Cassy has probably tossed that original phone, but that doesn't automatically disqualify the possibility that he was dumb enough to think his setup worked and kept the phone. We're trying to find and rescue Ryan; if keeping the possibility that Cassy kept the phone, no matter how slim that possibility is, I want to keep it open in the hope that we might get lucky and find something."

Castle held up his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to discard the possibility he held onto the phone; I was just bringing up the more plausible alternative."

Beckett sighed. "Good. Sorry I yelled at you. I'm just terrified we won't find him in time."

He pulled her into his arms. "I know. I understand. I'm scared too."

Her phone started to ring. "It's Gates." She answered. "Sir?"

"_Does I.T. have anything yet?_"

Beckett could tell something was off in Gates' voice. "Not yet. Something wrong?"

Gates sighed, the sound creating a strange static-y noise. "_I just got word from the prison. Shane Cassy was stabbed to death in the yard an hour ago. Apparently they've already called the brother to notify him._"

Beckett looked up at Castle in alarm. "He knows?"

"_They said it went straight to voicemail but we don't know how much longer that will last. Light a fire under I.T.'s chairs. We need to find Ryan before Cassy turns his phone back on._"

* * *

**A/N: Duh-duh-dun.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: I'd like to thank TORONTOSUN, southerngirl1, phnxgrl, Chkgun93, and MaineCastle for their reviews. We're starting this chapter where the last one left off, but from Alex's perspective. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 7

"_They said it went straight to voicemail but we don't know how much longer that will last. Light a fire under I.T.'s chairs. We need to find Ryan before Cassy turns his phone back on_."

Alex pulled the bug receiver from her ear and dialed Sloan's number. "Did you get that?"

"_Yes I did. I've pulled everything I could find on the Cassy brothers. They both have extensive rap sheets, though they never served much in the way of prison time prior to Shane's murder conviction_."

"Do they own any properties or frequent any particular areas of town?"

"_I've looked. Jeremy Cassy has an apartment that Shane would stay at, but the police already searched that. No other properties in their names_."

Alex paused to think. "What about places their friends own?"

"_I'll start looking. Let me call you back when I've got something_."

Alex hung up and put the receiver back in her ear. The call with Gates had ended, so she listened in on the processing of the scene. Kate was going from tech to tech, asking what they found. Alex took out her receiver after the fifth tech told Kate "not much." She wasn't going to find out anything helpful from this angle.

Her phone rang a couple minutes later. "What'd you find?"

"_Jeremy has a close friend who owns a warehouse in Manhattan. The friend is in Sing-Sing for aggravated assault. I hacked into the prison's visitor logs. Jeremy went to see him the day before yesterday_."

"Was the visit recorded?"

"_If it was, I couldn't find the recording._"

"Text me the address; I'll check it out."

"_If he's not there, there are a couple other properties you could check out._"

Alex started the car. "Thanks Link."

"_Be careful_."

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Ryan groaned as he shifted his position. Last night his handcuffs had been shifted from behind him to in front of him and another pair was attaching those to the shelving he was leaning against. He looked around now that it was light; he was in what looked like a large warehouse space. The ceiling was probably two stories above them and the area to his right was wide open. In front and to the left of him was more shelving, though the configuration wasn't familiar to him, suggesting that this area was in flux from time to time. From where he sitting, he couldn't see any doors. _Even if I were to get out of these restraints, I wouldn't know where to go_.

Behind him, he could hear the sounds of a baseball game. It sounded like the Los Angeles Dodgers were up five to four against the San Francisco Giants. _He's either watching whatever's on or he doesn't like local teams_. A few minutes later, the channel changed to NASCAR, so Cassy was just watching whatever was on. Ryan shifted again, trying to get comfortable. At least he wasn't being tortured this time; Shane Cassy's brother seemed to be looking for a straight up exchange.

The problem with Cassy's plan was no cop would release a convicted murderer to rescue a cop. Beckett and Esposito would be busy trying to figure out who had taken him and where he was being held. Oh sure, they'd tell Cassy his brother's release papers were being worked on, but they wouldn't go through with it.

It sounded like Cassy had just called someone. "Hey, what's going on down there?" Ryan couldn't hear what the other guy was saying, so he focused on figuring out what the conversation was about from just Cassy's responses. "I thought they might; that's why I set it up. Have you heard anything about my brother?" There was a short pause. "I see. No, don't try to get any closer. It's not worth you getting locked up. Call me at this number if something changes. I'm keeping mine off so they can't track it."

From the sound of it, Beckett and Esposito had fallen for something Cassy set up to test what his friends would do. It made sense that Cassy wouldn't trust his partners to blindly follow orders. No doubt he had a rap sheet to match his brother's; he had the look of a hardened criminal. There was plenty of prison ink mixed in with the professional. At least now he knew Cassy wasn't working alone; it sounded like one of his Aryan brothers was keeping some sort of eye on the rescue efforts.

Ryan sighed. Jenny must be worried sick. He vaguely remembered seeing her in the living room before his head was rudely introduced to the doorway and then his own gun. He prayed that Cassy had left his wife and daughters alone. If not, that bastard wasn't going to prison; Ryan would make sure Cassey had an "accident" long before he saw an orange jumpsuit and set of bars again.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

Beckett walked out of the abandoned community center to find Jenny standing with a uniform outside. "Is he here? I came over when Gates called and said you might have him soon."

Beckett sighed. "I'm sorry Jenny. Apparently his kidnapper was clever enough to divert his cell signal here. I promise, we're doing everything we can to find him."

Jenny's shoulders dropped with disappointment. "Where is he, Kate? What's happening to him?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. Just remember, he's going to be fine. His abductor needs to keep Ryan alive to get his brother out of jail."

"I know. I just…I hate this, Kate. I don't want to lose him."

"You won't. I won't let him die." Beckett gestured to the officer. "This officer is going to take you back to your hotel. I promise as soon as we find him, I'll have him call you."

"Thank you."

Castle waited until Jenny was in the cop car to break his silence. "What happens when Cassy finds out his brother's dead? Will he keep Ryan alive to get a friend released instead?"

"I don't even want to think about that outcome, but I doubt he'd keep Ryan alive for a friend. He went through a lot of trouble for his brother."

"Exactly; it was a lot of trouble. Maybe he'll want to capitalize on that effort."

"No, this is all about the brother. He'll just cut his losses and try to skip town."

Castle looked mischievous. "Who's discounting possibilities now?"

She shot him an annoyed look, but ignored his comment. "Let's get back to the precinct and see what we can dig up on Jeremy Cassy. There has to be something we can find that will lead us straight to Ryan."

They got back into the car and headed for the precinct. Beckett was tense. Ryan was no longer safe now that Cassy's brother was dead. At any minute, Jeremy Cassy could turn on his phone, find the voicemail left by the prison and discover that the person he was trying to free was dead. Ryan was only alive as long as Cassy didn't turn on his phone. Unless…

She had an idea and speed dialed Gates. "Captain, is there any chance we could have the prison call Cassy and leave another message?"

"_What kind of message?_"

"Have them apologize and say they mis-identified the prisoner who was killed. Have them say they switched two numbers of the prisoner's I.D. number and the wrong name came up."

"_I'll call and see if they'll do it. They might not_."

"A cop's life is at stake. At any minute Cassy could turn his phone back on; we need to do something to buy Ryan some time."

"_I'll see if I can't stress the importance of that phone call_."

"Thank you sir."

Castle nodded as she hung up. "That's a good plan. He'll want to call someone he knows on the inside to check. That'll buy some time and maybe give us a chance to track his phone."

"That's the idea." She pulled into a spot near the precinct. "In the meantime, let's find something we can use."

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

Alex parked the car a block away from the address Sloan had given her and walked the rest of the way. The warehouse was sandwiched between two taller buildings. From the front, the only way in was through a large rolling door which was locked with a padlock from the outside. _Either Cassy's out or there's another entrance_. Alex circled to the back of the building and found a back door.

She pulled on a pair of gloves, knelt in front of the door, and pulled out her lock pick set. Half a minute later she was in. Alex opened the door as quietly as she could and stepped inside. The floor was covered in dust and there were no footprints. A quick search of the area confirmed her suspicions; Ryan wasn't here.

She pulled out her phone. "Ryan's not here."

Sloan sounded surprised. "_He's not? But that was the most logical place_."

"This friend Cassy went to visit, does he have any other properties in his name?"

"_No_."

"What about family owned properties?"

"_No, Cassy's family doesn't have anything besides that apartment_."

"I meant the friend's family."

"_Let me see_." Alex heard keyboard keys tapping rapidly through the phone. "_Actually, yes. The friend's grandfather owns an old warehouse on the island. The grandfather is in an assisted living facility upstate now, so the grandson has full access_."

"And it's a place that wouldn't show up immediately on a records search when the cops go looking. Text me the address."

"_You got it_."

* * *

Beckett wolfed down her lunch while sorting through a search on all of Jeremy and Shane Cassy's known associates. She compiled a list of the names who owned property and started on making a list of the addresses. Esposito was sending uniforms to those addresses and having them do a drive by to see if any of those locations were plausible places to hide Ryan.

As the hours ticked on, address after address was crossed off the list. Too many were active businesses or inconvenient because of the high levels of foot traffic in the area. As this rate, they were going to have to start adding abandoned buildings to their list. Beckett checked her watch again. _It's almost five_.

Esposito's phone rang. "Detective Esposito, Homicide."

It was one of the uniforms they'd sent out. "_Sir, we have a possible location_."

He grabbed the list. "Give it to me." His eyes scanned the list as the uniform rattled the location off. "Got it. Stay in the area but out of sight; we don't want to spook him."

"_Yes, sir_."

He hung up. "We got a hit. Place belongs to one of Jeremy's friends, a Garrett Smith."

Gates came out of her office. "That matches something I found. Jeremy visited Smith the day before Ryan was taken."

Castle turned to Beckett. "He was getting access to the warehouse."

Beckett nodded. "Let's go."

Gates turned to go back to her office. "Set up a stakeout; I'll get you the warrant. Bring him home."

* * *

Beckett, Castle and Esposito had been sitting outside the warehouse for half an hour when Gates finally arrived with the warrant. Castle stayed with the car, Esposito joined a group of uniforms at the front rolling door and Beckett and Gates circled around to cover the back. Beckett slowed as the back door came into view, trying to muffle the sounds of her footsteps in this dirty alley. She took her position next to the door and counted to three before trying the doorknob. To her surprise, it turned easily.

Gates noticed. "That's not a good sign."

Beckett shook her head. "No, it's not."

Gates raised her gun, ready to enter. "Ready?"

Beckett nodded. "On three?"

Gates nodded. "One."

"Two."

"Three."

Beckett flung the door open. "NYPD!"

* * *

**A/N: And...another cliffhanger. Leave a message with your predictions or just to say hi :). Thanks for reading and reviewing.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I'd like to thank MaineCastle, southerngirl1, phnxgrl, Chkgun93, and TORONTOSUN for their reviews. We're starting where the last chapter left off. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 8

Inside was dark, the light from the open door extending only a few feet beyond the threshold until the large rolling door on the front of the building was flung open with a chorus of "Police!" Beckett took a step inside, but stopped at the sight of footsteps in the thick coating of dust on the ground. The uniforms and Esposito yelled, "Clear!" _No Ryan again_. Beckett holstered her gun and crouched to examine the footprints. Someone had been here recently, but the footprints were too small to be Ryan or his abductor.

Esposito came up to Beckett and Gates. "No one's been here in a while. What'd you find?"

"I think someone has been here very recently, just not who we're after. I don't know who these belong to, but they're too small to be Ryan or Cassy."

"Jenny?"

"How would she have found out about this place before we did?" Beckett stood as Gates stepped away to make a call. "No, these footprints probably belong to one of Cassy or Smith's friends, though I'm not sure why they'd leave the back door unlocked."

"The back door was unlocked?"

"Yeah. We should have CSU sweep this place. Maybe the associate can lead us to Ryan."

Gates ended her call. "They're on their way. Beckett, Esposito, I want you two to stay here until they arrive and let them know where to look first." She raised her voice. "The rest of you form a perimeter! Keep a low profile!"

"Yes sir."

She turned back to her Detectives. "If you need anything else, give me a call."

Beckett nodded. "Yes sir."

Gates left through the back door as Castle came in. The majority of the uniforms were heading outside to form the perimeter Gates wanted, but Beckett could tell that the task was more to give them something to do rather than prevent an escape. Ryan wasn't here and never had been. She glanced at her watch again and sucked in a breath. They were running out of time.

Castle glanced around the warehouse. "Ryan wasn't here at all, was he?"

"No. We know someone was, so we're hoping CSU can tell us who."

Castle caught the look on her face. "You okay?"

She shook her head, lower lip trembling. "No."

He pulled her into his arms and held her close. "Hey, you're going to find him. When Lockwood had the boys, we found them. We'll find Ryan this time too. I know it."

She kissed his jaw before releasing the embrace. "Thanks."

Castle caressed her cheek. "Always."

Esposito cleared his throat. "Should I give you two a minute?"

Beckett turned around and punched Esposito playfully on the shoulder. "You know you'd do the same for Lanie if she needed it."

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Alex parked a block away from Sloan's second location and grabbed the essentials from her bag: her knife, a pair of gloves, and her trusty lock pick set. She then checked that the coast was clear before getting out of the car and making her way to the warehouse. Her plan was to see if Ryan was inside, text the address to Kate, and then keep an eye on him until they showed up. After all, there was no need to reveal her role in this rescue.

Alex slowed as she neared the warehouse, eyes up, searching for cameras. The building was older, and though many older buildings like this were being retrofitted with high tech security systems or extensive remodels, it looked like this one had not received those upgrades yet. _Good_. The front of the building had two rolling doors, but rolling doors tended to make a lot of noise, so those were out. She ducked into a heavily shaded alley and found a side door that should let her in without attracting attention.

She knelt next to the door and pulled her lock pick set out of her back pocket. The lock on the door knob was easy, but the deadbolt was proving tricky. It took almost two minutes to set the pins and unlock the door. She quickly put her tools away and took a deep breath. _I hope he doesn't have a chain on this door_. Alex carefully turned the knob and tried the door. Carefully, half an inch at a time, she eased the door open, keeping an eye out for any additional security measures.

There weren't any. With a sigh of relief, she slipped through the door and eased it shut again. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom and Alex moved away from the door to a better hiding spot. From here, she could see Ryan handcuffed to the support rail of some shelving. There was a bump with a cut running through it over his right eye and a trickle of dried blood running down the left side of his neck, but besides that, he looked to be in good health.

Alex was about to pull her phone from her pocket when a scream of rage echoed through the warehouse followed by the sound of a chocked sob. _Something bad has happened_. Alex didn't trust her whisper to go unheard in this space, so she pulled out her phone and texted Sloan, "Text Beckett the address," before turning her phone off. No need to have the ringer go off and announce her presence.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Ryan startled at the scream from behind the shelves he was cuffed to. The sob a moment later made his stomach drop. Whatever had happened, it couldn't be good, which meant he must not have much time left. Unless Beckett and Esposito came charging through the door in the next couple minutes, he was a dead man. _No, I'm not going to die here_. He cast his eyes around the room, desperately looking for something he could use to unlock the handcuffs to escape. To his dismay, there wasn't anything within reach.

Behind him, he heard Cassy give a frustrated yell and then started muttering to himself. "They say he's dead, and then they say they 'misidentified' the body. Which is it? Make up your mind!"

Ryan's heart sank. _Shane Cassy is dead; it sounds like my team is trying to buy me some time_. He closed his eyes and thought of his family. _I'm sorry Jenny; I wish we had more time together_. A tear slipped down his face and he quickly wiped it away on his shoulder. If he was going to be murdered, there was no way he was going to give Cassy the satisfaction of seeing him cry. Not that tears were a sign of weakness, he just didn't want to be viewed in his last moments as a crybaby.

Cassy was talking again. "Hey Ralph, can you talk? Good. I need you to check something for me. I just got a call from the prison. They told me Shane is dead and then called back and said they made a mistake. Tell me what's true."

A few moments of silence were followed by another chocked sob. "You're sure? Absolutely sure?" Another sob followed by heavy, angry breathing. "Find out who's responsible and make him pay. I don't care who you use to do it, just get it done. I've got to take care of some things out here. We'll talk again soon."

Ryan heard a phone hit the table and the sound of Cassy sitting down and sobbing for a couple moments. When the sobs subsided, Ryan heard the sound of a gun scrapping against a table as it was picked up. _This is it_. He wished he could be given the chance to tell his wife goodbye, but that wasn't going to happen. Ryan shifted, preparing himself to die with honor.

* * *

**Minutes Earlier…**

CSU had finally arrived and was busy processing the scene. So far, they hadn't found a single fingerprint, though there were plenty of trace elements in all the dust. The footprints had been measured and photographed as well, but Beckett wasn't expecting that to give them much.

Esposito's phone rang. "Esposito."

Tori was on the other side. "_Cassy just turned on his phone. I'm running a GPS tracking program on the number now_."

"I'll stay on the line."

Beckett's phone buzzed as a text arrived. "541 W 22nd St.?"

Castle looked. "That's an address. Who's the sender?"

Beckett tapped a couple buttons. "The number is blocked."

Esposito put a hand over the receiver. "Could that be where Ryan's being held?"

"Possibly. It's not too far away. We should check it out."

Tori came back on the line. "_I've got an address. 541 west twenty-second street_."

"Got it." Esposito looked at Beckett as they ran to the car. "Tori just pulled up the same address. Ryan's gotta be there."

"Let's go."

They piled into the car, Beckett driving, with Esposito in the back. Beckett wanted to throw on the siren, but she also didn't want to alert Cassy that they were coming. She settled for using the siren for a couple blocks and then turning it off and using just the lights. Beckett came to a hard stop outside the building and everyone jumped out of the car. Beckett and Esposito checked their guns, while Castle came around the car to meet them, and they all looked at the building.

Beckett was about to suggest they check for another entrance when a gunshot rang out from inside. _No_...

* * *

**Minutes Earlier…**

Alex stayed where she was, keeping an eye on Ryan and an ear on what Cassy was up to. For a moment after the sob, there was silence and then a yell. Whatever was happening, it wasn't good. _Wait, his phone was off earlier; he must have turned it back on and gotten the message about his brother_. This wasn't good. Alex extracted her knife from the sheath, ready to intervene if Beckett and Esposito didn't arrive soon enough.

Cassy was muttering something, but Alex only caught half the words. "They say he's dead, then – – '– –' the body. – – –? Make up your mind!"

Alex was confused, but from what she'd heard, it sounded like Cassy might have received two messages about his brother. _The second is probably a stall tactic_. At least Ryan still had a few minutes. Cassy would need to check which message was true before he acted.

Sure enough, the next sound she heard was Cassy calling someone named Ralph. Alex could barely hear the conversation, but from the change in Cassy's tone at the end of the conversation, she could tell that he'd gotten the information he needed. Cassy ended the call telling Ralph to make Shane's killer pay for what he'd done.

Cassy came around the shelving with a gun in his right hand, looking enraged. "Shane's dead. Happy Irish? It's you who killed him. If you had just left him alone, he'd be alive right now."

"I'm not the one who killed him, and I'm not the reason he was in there in the first place." Ryan sat as straight as he could, defiant despite the situation. "Your brother killed a man. I did my job and arrested him for it. The man responsible for his death is the one who killed him in there."

"Shut up!" Cassy pointed the gun at Ryan, veins popping in his neck. "You killed him when you slapped the cuffs on him. And now, I'm gonna kill you."

"Can I at least make a request before you do?"

Cassy scoffed. "If you think I'm going to let you call your wife and tell her goodbye, you're wrong. Shane didn't get to say goodbye to me, so you don't get to say goodbye either."

"I'd like to be standing when I die instead of squatting on the floor."

Cassy stood still for a moment considering, then he walked forward slowly. "You try anything and I'll pay a little visit to your wife when I'm done with you. Me and her are going to get to know each other really well."

Alex saw Ryan go pale. "Don't you touch her."

Cassy was enjoying himself now. "If you try anything, I'm going to rape her till she's begging to die, and then I'll kill her and your kids. You understand me?"

Ryan was still pale as he nodded, showing that he understood and would comply. Alex watched as Cassy undid Ryan's handcuffs, gun still pointed at his head. Ryan waited until Cassy had backed away to stand up carefully, hands up to show he wasn't a threat. Alex crept out of her hiding spot toward Cassy, who had his back to her now.

Ryan looked terrified. Or maybe it was sad. Either way, he thought he was about to die and that thought wasn't a pleasant one. Cassy stared at his hostage for a moment before lowering his gun slightly and taking careful aim at Ryan's chest. It was now or never.

Alex sprinted forward, her knife held like a dagger in her right hand. She reached Cassy, pushing his gun hand up and away with her left a moment before he fired the gun. She spun around, back facing Cassy, and plunged her knife in his left side. She pulled it out again as he tensed and dropped the gun. Alex spun the knife in her hand as she completed her turn to face Cassy again and stabbed him in the kidney, twisting the blade to ensure he wouldn't be able to use his gun later. She finished by stabbing him twice more so he wouldn't suffer for long.

Cassy collapsed and Alex looked up to see where Ryan was. He was on the floor, left hand over his right shoulder, blood seeping from the wound into a small pool under him. Alex dropped her knife and ran to his side, placing her hands over the injury as he passed out. _Hang in there Ryan_.

* * *

**A/N: For anyone who knows the area of New York I referenced, I'm playing around with the architecture a little. Apparently warehouses in New York are not as common as some TV shows set in New York would have you believe. I guess that's what happens when you shoot in Los Angeles for a show set in New York. Anyway, please leave a review below!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: I'd like to thank phnxgrl, MaineCastle, Chkgun93, TORONTOSUN, and southerngirl1 for their reviews. I'm glad you guys loved it! We're starting where the last chapter left off from Beckett's POV. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9

Beckett and Esposito ran forward and pulled at the rolling door, but it wouldn't budge. Castle called to them, pointing down the alley. They hurried to him and spotted a door. Beckett and Esposito took up positions on either side of the door with Castle keeping an eye on the front to make sure Cassy didn't escape that way. Beckett looked at Esposito and he nodded.

Beckett twisted the knob and Esposito rolled inside with Beckett on his heels. They scanned the room, but the shelves right in front of them blocked most of the view. Esposito signaled that he would sweep to their right and Beckett nodded, watching his back. He got to the end of the shelving, checked around the corner, and then shook his head. Beckett motioned that she was going forward and Esposito nodded that he understood. She adjusted her grip on her gun and moved between two shelves. She peaked around the corner and her heart felt like it had stopped. Two bodies lay on the ground; Ryan and Jeremy Cassy. And Alex was kneeling over Ryan.

Beckett put her gun up and stepped around the corner. "Put your hands up."

Alex looked up. "Normally I might, but he's bleeding pretty bad."

Beckett looked down and realized Alex was applying pressure to Ryan's shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Beckett looked from Alex to Ryan, torn between doing her job and saving Ryan's life. Ryan's life won out, though Beckett did pause by Jeremy's body long enough to check his pulse. Beckett holstered her gun and grabbed a towel from the shelf before kneeling across from Alex.

"Get out of here."

Alex looked up at Beckett in shock. "What?"

Beckett positioned her hands with the towel to take over applying pressure. "This is me saying 'thank you for saving his life' but this is a one-time deal. Now get out of here. Esposito! Ryan's here and he's hurt!"

Alex removed her hands and Beckett's took their place. Outside, tires had come to a screeching halt, so Alex turned and ran to the wall where a two story tall ladder led to a catwalk and door to the alley on the opposite side. Just as Esposito rounded the shelves to find Beckett with Ryan, uniforms flooded into the warehouse from the side door.

Esposito looked up to see Alex climbing the ladder. "Alex Stevens, stop!"

Alex scrambled up the last few rungs of the ladder and shoved the door at the top open. Esposito had just reached the bottom of the ladder and started to climb. Castle watched them go and then dropped down across from Beckett with a phone to his ear.

He covered the receiver. "A bus is on their way."

"Good."

He paused, hand still covering the mic. "Did you let her go?"

"She got a ten second head start for saving his life. It's only fair; she was out looking for him just like us. If she hadn't, he'd be dead right now. She deserved some sort of thank you for that. Don't tell Esposito. He has no idea."

He nodded and uncovered the phone. "Yes, I'm still here…"

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Alex shoved open the door and almost slammed into the railing of the fire escape. To her left was a ladder to the street, but a cop car was blocking the alley, so that was out. She went around the corner to the right and ran up the staircase to the next level. This level ended in a dead end right into a brick wall. She quickly observed the area and planned a risky route.

It wasn't a moment too soon. Behind her the cops were just coming out the door onto the fire escape. Alex sprinted forward. She'd almost reached the end when she used her Parkour skills to plant her right foot on the wall to her right and pushed off. This gave her the height she needed to place her left foot on the railing and then run across the wall to grab the pipe above an open window and swing through.

The window deposited her in a ballet studio where a group of five year olds were taking lessons. "Sorry to intrude." Everyone just stared at her with wide eyes as they watched her run out of the room. She ran to the nearest staircase and out the building into a very crowded street full of tourists. Slowing to a walk, she blended in, moving with the group as much as possible while still trying to put some distance between herself and the cops.

Sloan had remotely turned her phone back on so he could help with directions. "_Duck down a little and turn your head to the left. Good, you didn't show up on that camera. Now get as close to the wall as possible_."

"Have any cops made it onto this street yet?"

"_There is a pair on the corner headed your way, so you should duck into the store right now_."

Alex ducked into the store and made a show of being preoccupied with the magazines. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the pair pass the store. She counted to ten and exited the store again.

"Am I clear?"

"_For now_." Sloan paused as he listened to the police scanner. "_More units are coming so you need to move. There's a subway station a block from you. I can commandeer the cameras for maybe thirty seconds without sending up an alarm and the train is due in three minutes. Hurry_."

"Got it." Alex started to run, trying not to draw attention to herself in the process. Things were going to be close…

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

Esposito opened the door at the top of the ladder and looked around. Alex had somehow managed to avoid Beckett seeing her, but he was going to do everything in his power to bring her in. From what little he'd seen of the scene, Alex must have killed Jeremy Cassy and saved Ryan's life in the process, but he couldn't figure out why. That question would have to wait; Alex was escaping. She wasn't going down the ladder to their left, so she must have gone right. He led the group to the right and up a staircase to find Alex sprinting at a dead end.

Esposito expected Alex to stop when she realized she had nowhere to go, but she didn't. Instead, she pushed off the wall with her right, stepped on the rail with her left, and then ran across the wall to swing from a pipe through an open window. Esposito stopped, stunned at what he'd just witnessed. They were three stories up. Alex had just run across a wall three stories above what could have been a fall to her death to get away.

He turned around. "Get down to ground level and start a perimeter. We cannot let her get away."

"Yes sir."

Esposito went back inside in time to see Ryan get loaded onto a gurney and wheeled out. Blood covered his partner's shoulder and he was still out cold. He had a brief flashback to when Beckett had been shot at Montgomery's funeral. At least this time the bullet wound wasn't as close to the heart. Ryan had a better chance of surviving.

He climbed down the ladder and joined Beckett and Castle. "He gonna be okay?"

She nodded. "Paramedics said the injury was fairly clean. He should be fine. Alex?"

Esposito pulled a face. "I'd say we are still underestimating her abilities. She ran across a wall over a three story drop to swing through an open window. I sent uniforms to create a perimeter, but I think she escaped again."

Beckett nodded, but didn't say anything. Esposito got the feeling that Beckett had seen Alex and chosen to ignore the assassin, but he pushed that thought aside. He decided that if that had been the case, Beckett had made the choice to save Ryan's life over pursuing Cassy's killer. He watched his partner and her fiancé as he pondered the question: what would I have done in her shoes? If he had come around that corner and seen Alex walking away from Ryan and Ryan was bleeding out, he probably would have put the life of his partner over arresting Alex too. But there was some tension in Beckett's posture that seemed strange. The best conclusion he could come to was that Beckett was still not completely back in her right mind yet.

Esposito filed it away to ask her about later. "Has someone told Jenny yet?"

Beckett nodded. "She's headed to the hospital right now. You should go meet her there. Castle and I will stay here."

He nodded. "Good idea."

* * *

Lanie arrived with the CSU techs. Beckett met her at the door and brought her in to the body of Jeremy Cassy while the CSU techs spread out to process the rest of the warehouse. The M.E. set her kit down nearby and set-up her clipboard to start taking notes.

"Has anyone touched the body?"

Beckett nodded. "I checked his pulse at the right wrist. We know Alex is the killer though."

Lanie shot her friend a surprised look. "How do you know?"

Beckett pointed to the knife near Cassy's body. "That's a Wingwalk. And we saw her… escaping when we got here. She saved Ryan's life."

Lanie noticed the hesitation, but didn't press. Beckett was probably covering for something. She'd have to ask her husband what it was tonight. The M.E. made a few notes and then knelt down to start her exam. It looked like he'd been stabbed four times; three stab wounds looked like Alex's normal work, but there was one on his left that didn't match at all. If Alex was the killer, she had improvised a little for some reason.

Beckett walked around the warehouse as CSU worked. Cassy had set up camp behind the shelves Ryan had been handcuffed to. A card table held a small TV and another was covered in food with trash on the floor next to it. A cheap plastic folding chair was set up next to the food table and a cot was against the wall. _Cassy must have been working alone_.

CSU techs were busy taking photographs of everything, though a couple techs were getting evidence bags ready to collect things when the pictures were completed. Beckett went back to Castle so the techs could do their jobs uninterrupted. He held open his arms and she gladly stepped into them.

"We found him." He pulled her close and rested his head against hers.

"With some help. No one's come back really excited, so I'm guessing Alex got away again."

"Why'd you do it?"

She shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Are you mad?"

"No."

She pulled back to look at Castle. "Are you going to tell Gates?"

He took Beckett's face in his hands and looked her in the eyes. "Never. You had a reason, even if you don't know exactly what it was. And I trust your judgment."

"Thank you."

* * *

Beckett and Castle headed to the hospital after Lanie was done with her exam and the body was headed for the morgue. Ryan was in surgery, but the doctors said they didn't expect any complications. According to them, the shot was a clean through and through. The bullet had come close to hitting the Subclavian Vein, but Ryan had been lucky. Esposito and Jenny were sitting in the waiting room when they arrived. Jenny still looked worried, but most of the fear had dissipated.

She smiled when she saw Beckett and stood up to give her a hug. "Thank you. You brought him back to me. Thank you."

"Of course. I was just doing my job."

Jenny stepped back. "No, it was more than that. You guys brought him home. You saved his life. Thank you. All of you."

Gates walked in and gestured to Beckett and Esposito. "Can I talk to you really quick?"

"Yes, sir."

She waited until her detectives were standing next to her. "When did you see Alex in the warehouse?"

Esposito spoke first. "Beckett wouldn't have been able to see her. She was applying pressure to Ryan's wound when I saw Alex going up the ladder."

Gates turned to Beckett. "That true?"

"Yes sir."

Gates nodded. "A rookie apparently told I.A. he thought you guys were acting a little weird when he came in, so be prepared for questions. I believe you though, so I'll back you."

"Thank you, sir."

She glanced at Jenny and Castle as they talked. "You guys did good today. Call me when he gets out of surgery."

Beckett smiled. "Yes sir."

A few hours later, Jenny was allowed to go see him as he came out of sedation. Beckett called Gates to let her know Ryan was waking up, after which the rest of the group was allowed to go visit. Ryan was reclined on the hospital bed, still pale and with several wires attached to him, but alive and awake. He smiled when he saw them, though his eyes were a little unfocused from the pain killers.

"Hey, guys. You're here."

Beckett smiled and took a seat across the bed from Jenny. "Of course we're here. Had to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah, I'm okay. Shoulder hurts a little."

Esposito grinned. "They got you on the good stuff if that shoulder only hurts a little."

Ryan smiled and nodded sleepily. "Thanks for finding me. It's kinda weird though."

"What's that?"

"Before I got shot, I coulda sworn I saw Alex."

Jenny looked at Beckett, who nodded. "She found you first; must have killed Jeremy Cassy around the time we arrived."

Ryan just nodded. "Thaaat's…goooood." He drifted off to sleep again.

Beckett smiled. "Get some rest."

* * *

**A/N: And that's where I'm going to have to leave it for a few weeks. The next case I'm working on got technical very quickly, which means I needed to do a lot of research and that slowed down writing a bit. Until then, thank you guys so much for reading and I hope to see a lot of comments! Thanks!**


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